School Business Management
Assessment
Inside a Procurement Dispute in North Carolina
North Carolina officials' switch in reading-test vendors just weeks before the new school year got underway is spotlighting the often murky process of contracts and procurements for K-12 services.
Budget & Finance
Leader To Learn From
In Wary Community, Finance Chief Builds Strong Case for K-12 Investment
In the Ossining, N.Y. school system, Assistant Superintendent for Business Alita McCoy Zuber pairs her powers of persuasion with cost-conscious budgeting to help plan the financial future of a growing school district. She is a recognized as a 2015 Leader To Learn From.
IT Management
Tech. Tools for Managing Schools Face Stagnant Market
Purchases of technologies that help power districts' administrative and operational functions have lagged, although some observers predict a rebound in the near future.
Education Funding
Striking a Balance in Evaluating Teacher Buying
Some states are enacting policies that give teachers a bigger role in what products and materials they use in the classroom.
School & District Management
Job Roles Shifting for Districts' Central Offices
In "portfolio" districts, responsibilities that once rested at the central office are falling to principals, who may be operating magnet schools, charter schools, or neighborhood schools with varying levels of autonomy.
Federal
USDA to Probe Companies Running School Cafeterias
A federal audit will investigate whether food-service-management companies are pocketing the rebates from food suppliers.
School & District Management
Chavez School Turmoil Highlights Charter Issues
A well-regarded Colorado charter school network is riven by a management and oversight dispute.
School & District Management
L.A. Board OKs School-Management Plan
After a four-hour debate, the school board of the nation’s second-largest district votes to open the management of some 250 schools to outside groups.
School & District Management
Urban Districts Compare Notes on Operation
Benchmarking project allows leaders to fine-tune core business practices.
Education Funding
Commentary
The Productivity Imperative
"The current economic crisis will challenge just about every public- and private-sector institution in America," write Marguerite Roza, Dan Goldhaber, & Paul T. Hill.
School & District Management
Business Lessons Guide Training for Charter Leaders
The Minnesota Leadership Academy for Charter and Alternative Public Schools pairs practicing and aspiring principals and other school administrators with business leaders.
Law & Courts
Effect of Nebraska’s Racial-Preference Ban Weighed
Educators expect few significant changes to schooling from the anti-affirmative action passed by voters.
Education Funding
Wary Eyes Monitoring Wall Street
School business officials are keeping a close watch on the markets—and on district investment portfolios and teacher-retirement funds—amid escalating upheaval on Wall Street.
Budget & Finance
News in Brief
Boston Schools Eye ‘Pilot’ Status
Changing status would free the 20 schools from some district mandates and union work rules.